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We're halfway to the cut being made, and the leader (McDowell) is at 6 under par. Conditions in the afternoon were a bit trickier than the benign weather in the morning, and I believe guys took a little to adjust to a softer course. It'll firm up a bit tomorrow, but I still believe someone is going to go very low tomorrow...64ish perhaps. I'll say -11 will be leading going into Saturday, with firmer conditions on the weekend hitting my original target of 14 under par for the winner.

If Tiger plays the same conservative game he did today, I think more putts will drop for him early and he'll go mid-60s, maybe end up -12. Of course, I have no concept of how those courses play, and how much difference a slight change in conditions will make. So I base my guesses on what I saw today. He's playing early, so that could mean very little wind to contend with. I'd also expect Furyk, Jimenez, Els to shoot low again, maybe Sergio can maintain for another day. Don't know enough about McDowell to say whether he can put together 2 great rounds in a row.

So, leader will be at least -10, with a handful of guys within 2 strokes, and another wad just 3-4 back.

What's the cut going to be? -3?

I think if Tiger can keep to his gameplan with the irons on teeshots, he'll be -11 or -12 through tomorrow, assuming no major mistakes like 3-putting. I think McDowell will play solid again tomorrow, but I don't know if he'll manage to shoot another really good round. -10 through 2 rounds for him is my prediction. As mentioned, all the big guns at -4 will probably shoot good scores tomorrow (-4 or better), although they ARE playing in the tougher afternoon conditions, so who knows what will happen. I think Phil might go low tomorrow with a 65 or better to get up around -10. Overall, I think Tiger's got a really good chance to be leading through 2 rounds, but he will have a lot of big names hot on his heels going into the weekend even if he does manage to jump into the lead. This weekend, hopefully, will be a nice shootout.

Look at that course. If the wind blows, it's going to be ****. Good luck to all the players, but it could get very interesting around cut time.

i didn't think Tiger would lead going into the weekend, but after an Eagle 2 i would say Tiger leads at -13 going into the weekend.

That shot was simply incredible, especially from 205 out into the wind like that! The other thing I noticed is that his short game has been really good this week. He's putting really well, which bodes great for him and bad for the field this week.

very hard to beat from here on in, but certainly not impossible. but i would say it all depends how Tiger plays over the weekend. theres scores to be made and if Tiger hits a 71 or 72 on saturday, then someone from the pack could shoot a 64 or 65 and then they may lead. but its an uphill struggle for the field from here.
Tiger's ball is in the fairway at the par 5 16th, lead could be -14 with an Eagle, par, birdie. but theres still some big players to go out and you can't tell too much from here except that Tiger is a huge favourite.

The route is officially ON now...

london, Tiger has essentially turned this course into a par 68 for himself. He's not hitting drivers on the par 4's, so he's avoiding the big trouble by finding almost every fairway with his 2-iron. By doing that, all he has to do is just make pars on the par 4's and 3's, and birdies on the par 5's, and he's simply cruising. If he gets lucky and makes some putts on par 3's or 4's, then that's just the icing on the cake for him at this point. And I can't say enough how huge that eagle was. That's a very tough hole, even if you hit driver off the tee, because it's into a stiff breeze. He made eagle hitting 2-iron, 4-iron. Some of his best shots this week have been his long iron shots into the wind (such as at 12 yesterday and obviously 14 and 17 today). That's an indication that he is REALLY striping his irons this week, because you can't just hit mediocre shots from those distances and get fairly close to the hole.

The route to where? Or do you mean rout, which means a thumping?

Well, Tiger with an errant tee shot at 18. Looks like he'll pay the price on this one. He was in some pretty thick rough, so he laid up to 165 yards in the fairway, then hit his 3rd to about 20 feet left of the pin. Birdie is not likely, but that eagle at 14 certainly makes up for not birdieing 18 (assuming he doesn't make that putt).

(It's early)

Dormie, look at it like this. You can twist his words. For example. Tiger is on the route to victory.

It's starting to remind me of the types of performances he had in 2000-2001. Where he shows the world once again (as if he needed to) that he really plays the game on a level the rest of the PGA Tour cannot contend with. Where the rest of the field gets up on Saturday and Sunday morning thinking, "Well, I suppose the check for 2nd place will be ok."

I wouldn't be so sure of that. He's doing this on a pretty easy golf course where he doesn't have to fight with his driver issues. His short game has definitely been great this week (other than his very first hole with a foolish 3-putt from 20 feet). There are a lot of really big names right behind him. I don't think all of them will collapse, but if his short game keeps at its current pace, he should win it regardless of how well anyone else plays. A couple of 68s from here in and he's got it won I think.